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EMI: A Random Rant Page Two
I know for a fact that a lot of people in this community are stuck in the past, wanting 2D back. 2D adventures are lovely, but that's not the way it's going to be anymore. Many of these same people are the ones who had preconceptions of this game, and searched for problems with it. When they found one continuity problem, that was it; this game sucked! The engine is 3D; this game sucked! The controls aren't very good; this game sucked!
There is no answer to these issues; everyone likes different things. I myself had a great time playing this game, but I can still see the viewpoints and agree with a lot of people out there. When you got to Monkey Island, it did go a bit odd, the houses on Lucre did look like Smurf huts, and the lists go on. But, all in all, this is a great adventure game, and that's more important than all of these issues put together. If you hated it because it was too easy, you didn't laugh at it, you thought it was dull --and thought them as problems unrelated to the fact that it was MI4-- then, fair enough, it's your opinion. (That's an entirely different matter than the one I'm discussing, isn't it?) But, people, please don't slate LucasArts, Mike or Sean, or anyone else related for ruining Monkey Island. Because they did quite the opposite: They brought it back to life after 3 years, and they also got massive media attention. (Hats off to the marketing team!)
After everyone in the media fearing the demise and death of adventure games, I think it's great that this game came along and stole their attention. I don't think they were expecting that.
As for other accusations that LucasArts pays off reviewers, ignores its fans, downright sucks… well, I'm not going to go into them right now. Accusations that awards given to EMI should have gone to The Longest Journey… that's the way the world is. I remember that Titanic won the Oscar for best special effects, beating Starship troopers… not exactly my opinion, but, hey, It doesn't mean my opinions on either film have changed, and its not the end of the world. I can still appreciate ST in the same way I did before it lost. You have to remember that the reason that TLJ wasn't even considered for some awards is because it was not publicized with quite the same intensity and determination that LucasArts used to let everyone know about EMI, perhaps it would have won outright if they had, perhaps not.
EMI has received some great reviews and awards, and I know that LEC must be happy with the way it was received. They managed to release an adventure game that sold relatively well, and managed to appeal to more than just the die-hard fans.
(Remember, this is a big factor in the continuity problems. if EMI was designed just for the fans, then it would have had very limited sales; referring always to the other games would have alienated new players.)
I think they were concerned over some of the accusations, but if anything was going to get the spotlight back onto LucasArts and adventure games, then it was EMI. And I think they knew there would be some people for whom this game just wasn't going to be good enough. After all, nothing can be liked by 100% of the world.